What Price Honor
by armydude
Summary: Beastboy tries to intimidate the Batman! Later, Batman needs a pair of trackers. It's a game of cat and mouse in the Appalachian mountains. Question is: Who's the cat and who's the mouse?
1. Chapter 1

Two Years Ago

"Oomph." He was rudely awakened by a weight landing on his chest. Through the dim light he saw pointed ears attached to a rounded green face that contained slitted eyes and bared gritted teeth. "Huh?"

A growling voice said, "Dude, you're Bruce Wayne. Now do you fund the Titans because you really wanna help people or is it cause you just wanna cover Dick Grayson's scrawny ass?"

"Dick's in Europe, and who are you?" Bruce Wayne AKA The Batman, knew who it was that was currently sitting on his chest, but he had to play the role.

"Dude, don't even try to play me. Dicky-boy is back at the Tower, pulling at his spiky hair trying to figure out how to ask Starfire out. And you know who I am, just like I know exactly who you are, Batman."

"Me, the Batman?"

"RRRR, I said don't try it!"

"Fine, get off or I'll throw you off." Suddenly Beastboy was no longer talking to Bruce Wayne, now he was dealing with the Batman. And what concerned the Dark Knight was the young changeling didn't seem to give a damn.

Beastboy morphed into a flea, jumped and shifted back in to his human form, somersaulted and landed in a crouch, snarling, "I asked you a question. You fund the Titans because you actually give a damn or are you just covering Dicky-boys ass?"

Bruce growled, "First things first, how the hell do you know who I am and how'd you figure out Robins identity?"

"For someone that's supposed to be the worlds greatest detective, you can be pretty stupid. They don't call me **Beast**boy for nothing. I can become a silkworm moth and can smell a female seven miles away. So when billionaire playboy 'Bruce Wayne' visited Steve and Rita Dayton, also known as Mento and Elasti-girl, like you didn't know that, of the **Doom** Patrol," he pulled a bit at his shirt and snarled, "recognize the uniform, I got a good lock on your scent. So when the Batman had the same smell, it wasn't hard to figure out! And since Bruce Wayne is the Batman, it only made sense that his youthful ward, Dick Greyson was Robin. Hellooooo. RRRR, Now answer the question!"

Bruce getting really concerned. Something had the changeling seriously agitated. He said, "I'd be lying if I said it wasn't partly to take care of Dick. But that's not the only reason. Now what's going on Beastboy? And how the hell did you get in here?"

Beastboy just stared at him with a look on his face that said 'Do you really need me to answer that?'

"Right, looks like I need to upgrade my security."

"Wouldn't work against me anyway. I can even get into a clean-room or infiltrate the Watchtower if I wanted and nobody could stop me. Probably for the best I'm one of the good guys."

Batman growled "Why are you here?"

"Because Dicky-boy wouldn't call you. You're not only one of the richest guys in the world, you're one of the smartest. There's a girl in the Jump City Hospital. The doc's give her six weeks, maybe two months. She has cancer and you need to help her."

"Why?"

"RRRRRRR, because she saved my life."

"How?"

"I was patrolling, stopped off to get a tofu-burger at a joint near the hospital. Turned my back for a second, next thing I know, I'm getting the crap beat out of me. I couldn't even see who it was a first. They threw me through a third story window of the hospital. My heads spinning, the back of my head's split open and one eye is swelled shut. I couldn't even see straight. I look up and see red armor, it's Adonis. I thought I was a goner.

"Then this girl is hollering and swinging an IV stand for all she's worth, cracking him in the shins, the knees, even the balls. He was bent over holding the family jewels and backhanded her into a wall. He split her lip and knocked out one of her teeth. But she came back at him, screaming like a banshee, swinging that IV stand whole time.

"She backed him off long enough so I could get myself together enough to take him apart. First thing I did was throw him back out the window, then I landed on him as a mammoth. Then... I got nasty!

"When I've got him down for the count and the cops are on the way, I hear hollering. I look up and there this twelve year old girl, blood pouring from her mouth, waving an IV stand over her head like it's a club, telling me to 'kick his ass some more.'

"She's got more guts than any ten of us capes. RRRRR, I can't help her, you can. You got the brains and you got the money." Beastboy started walking towards the window, saying, "I'll see you **tomorrow**, in Jump." He said it like Bruce wouldn't dare not be there. He got to the window and vanished.

Bruce looked at the place where the changeling disappeared for a long moment, threw on a robe and walked out of his room heading downstairs. On the way to the cave he found Alfred sitting in front of the fireplace, feet up with a snifter of brandy.

"Evening, Alfred."

"Master Bruce, I thought you had retired for the evening."

"I had, but there's something I've gotta take care of."

"May I inquire as to what?"

"I need to update my files on the Titan's...badly. Especially Beastboy's!"

* * *

Twenty Months Ago

"It was too late. Even before she had been admitted to the hospital, it was too late."

The stoic voice of the Bat said, "I know."

"The docs said that if she would'a been diagnosed sooner she'd a had a better chance."

"I know."

Beastboy had been devastated. He spent every spare moment sitting here in "The Garden". Robin tried to keep him busy with training, but Beastboy was just going through the motions. Starfire and Cyborg had both tried to raise his spirits without success. Even Raven was visibly worried about the Changeling. Robin had been concerned enough to call Batman.

Batman stood beside the bench Beastboy was sitting on in front of a marker of purest white marble. A bent and battered IV stand leaned against it. Cyborg had treated it to protect it from the weather. The marker read,

Coleen Trent  
Once A Titan  
Always A Titan

Robin had allowed Beastboy to make her an honorary Titan. And when she passed, her parents opted for cremation and allowed the Titans to inter some of the ashes on the Tower grounds.

"Beastboy, did you **intend** to break both of Adonis's collar-bones?"

Beastboy didn't hesitate and said "Yes Sir."

"Did you mean it when you told him that next time you were going to break both of his legs, too?"

Beastboy held his head high, "Yes Sir."

The Dark Knight smirked, "Maybe there's hope for you yet."

"Batman."

"Yes."

"I'm sorry."

"I know what for, but I wanna hear you say it."

"The night I asked you for help, I was out of line, badly. And I apologize."

"You were desperate. Apology accepted. Just don't let it happen again."

"No Sir."

Batman paused for a moment, remembering when Batman met the young woman interred at the marker, the night after he had met her as Bruce Wayne.

* * *

He had found Coleen on the roof of the hospital. She was sitting on the roof, staring at the sky. Batman landed nearby and tried to get the young woman to go back inside.

Batman said, "It's dangerous out here. You should go inside." She refused.

Batman even tried to intimidate her into going. Again, she refused. She refused a man that strikes fear and terror in the hearts of some of the most hardened criminals in the world. Coleen just snorted and said, "Why should I be afraid of you?"

Batman loomed over her, growling "Do you know who I am?"

"Humph, yeah, you're the Batman. I have terminal brain cancer and I'm going to die. So tell me why I should be afraid of you?" The girl returned to staring up at the sky. It was the calm cool acceptance of her fate that floored the Dark Knight.

Batman left her there, but he didn't leave her alone. He stood guard over the young woman until she decided to go back inside. He was shocked to see the young woman **crawl** to the door to the roof, down the stairs and back into her wheel-chair. Her cancer had taken her legs. She couldn't walk anymore.

The 'Capes' would take turns guarding the young woman. The Birds-of-Prey, the Titans, even Superman and some of the other Leaguers. Beastboy and Raven were frequently found on the roofs overlooking the Hospital. Anybody that even thought about bothering her would have been in for a very rude surprise.

Batman came to Jump as often as possible. He would watch as Coleen would crawl, literally crawl, onto the roof to stare at the sky. She refused any help.

Batman once asked what she was staring at. Coleen looked at her watch and pulled out a small book, a _Satellite Almanac._ She flipped to a page, looked to the sky, pointed towards the T shaped building in the distance and said "The Watchtower is rising just past Titans Tower. It's really hard to see it here in the city though. Too much light pollution. Luckily, it's self lit."

He asked her what was so important about seeing the Watchtower rising into the sky. "Every kid wants to be a superhero when they grow up. Some of them, like the Titans, even get the chance. I never will. And since this is the closest I can ever get to the Watchtower, I wanna see it every chance I get."

Two days after Batman asked his question, on her thirteenth birthday, with Robins approval and with great formality, Beastboy made her an honorary Titan.

Ten days after her birthday, she passed away.

* * *

"Besides, you were right."

"Batman?"

"She did have more guts than any ten of us."

He turned to leave, stopped and glared back at the Changeling, "And one other thing. You need to pull yourself together. Because if you don't, she's liable to come back, pissed off because you made her waste her time saving your sorry ass. And she'll kick your ass until you get your head screwed on straight. Don't make Robin send you to me for retraining."

* * *

Two Months Ago

Culver City, near the borders of Kentucky, West Virginia and Tennessee

He was tall and broad-shouldered with a handsome face wearing perfectly tailored Savile Row suit. Only the wind mussing his hair detracted from the image of perfection presented by the man giving his speech from behind the podium. Not that the mussed hair detracted from his appearance. For the women in the audience it only added to his 'Yummy Factor'.

"Wayne Industries in general and myself in particular are proud to sponsor this addition to the Culver City Hospital. The addition of Targeted Laser Cancer Treatment to the capabilities of the Doctors and staff will bring big city options to the region without people having to drive 10 to 14 hours to get the same treatment. This will allow the patient to recover in the comfort of their home rather then a sterile hospital hundreds of miles from home. They can have family and friends around instead of strangers. And this will reduce the stress placed upon the patient and the family, greatly improving their chances of a full recovery.

"The hospital board tried to name this Center after me, I refused. They offered to name it after my parents, Thomas and Martha Wayne. I told them to name it after the person responsible for it, Coleen Trent.

"I met Coleen after I was TOLD to visit her by someone who is not normally a very frightening individual. But he frightened me that night. It was Beastboy of the Titans. And how he met her is a story unto itself.

"Beastboy had been ambushed by the villain Adonis and was beaten... badly. Adonis had thrown the hero up through a third story window into local hospital. In an odd reversal of the roles, Coleen had saved Beastboy's life.

"At the time she was twelve years old. And with no powers, no super strength, no gadgets and no training, using only an IV stand as a makeshift weapon. She was able to injure the villain enough to give him pause, but he backhanded her into the wall, knocking out one of her teeth and split her lip so bad it required 17 stitches.

"But to quote Beastboy, 'She came back at him, screaming like a banshee, swinging that IV stand the whole time.' And she single-handedly held off the villain long enough for Beastboy to recover enough to subdue him.

"And once the Titan had the situation under control, he heard a girls voice hollering. He looked up and saw Coleen, in the shattered third story window, brandishing her IV stand and yelling for Beastboy, and I quote, 'To kick his ass some more.'

"For her heroism, she was made an honorary Titan.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, believe me when I tell you. Waking up in the middle of the night with an upset Titan sitting on your chest, telling you find a way to help someone, 'NOW!' is a frightening experience.

"Beastboy later apologized for his actions that night. He said he was out of line and that he was sorry. I told him he was desperate. Apology accepted. What really got my attention that night, was when I asked him why he would go so far for her. He said, 'She's got more guts than any ten of us capes!'

"But meeting the person that would drive a Titan to such actions was humbling. Coleen Trent faced every day of her treatment with courage and a smile. I watched as she would roll into the rooms of the other cancer kids and try to raise their morale. And any doctor worth his sheepskin will tell you that the morale and mindset of the patient is fifty percent of their chances of recovery.

"Coleen Trent passed away a year and a half ago. She was thirteen.

"In her 'rounds' as she liked to call it, one of the most common quips I heard from her was, 'Dude, you think you got it bad? It takes fourteen hours for us to drive here.'

"No more. If she would have been diagnosed sooner, if she could have been closer to the treatment, then maybe she would have survived.

"And now, it is with a humble heart that I present to this community, The Coleen Trent Cancer Laser Treatment Center." He pulled on a rope to reveal a sign naming the facility. Beside it there was an oversized representation of Coleen's battered IV stand and a plaque:

Anybody Can Be A Hero  
Even A Twelve Year Old Girl  
They Just Have To Have The Courage

* * *

Now

The entrance the Coleen Trent Cancer Laser Treatment Center loading dock exploded in a shower of shrapnel and flying glass. A man dressed a black costume with white trim and cape pushed a oversized machine through the now widened opening. He maneuvered it to the back of a flatbed truck backed up to the dock, cackling the whole time.

"Never had a candy-striper before. That was fun! Might have to do it again." He pulled up the chain in the steel plate set into the concrete of the dock causing the plate to rise and the end to flip up and cover the gap between the truck and the dock. He was lining the machine to roll in onto the truck when he saw a flash in the hill behind the hospital. Then, the back of his head exploded sending the supervillan, Dr Arthur Light, flipping backwards dead before he hit the ground.

* * *

Batman stood from the chalk outline of where Light had been found. Cameras on the dock had let him know exactly where and how Light had been standing when the .50 cal round struck. From there he sighted along the back path the bullet had taken. In the distance over a 1000 meters away, was a ridge-line. Somewhere up there was the spot where a murderer had lain in wait. And the Dark Knight would find it, and him.

* * *

Computer models had shown that somewhere close by was the hide of the sniper. This open country terrain wasn't his preferred operating area. He would rather be in the concrete jungle of Gotham, but he would make due. Almost gliding along, the eyes of the detective took in everything. Once the back of the hospital came into view he pulled his binoculars and peered in the direction of the loading dock. Not quite on target, he ghosted further along the ridge-line occasionally glancing to the dock.

Here. Somewhere within 20 meters. Casting about looking for signs, he quartered the area, when something caught his eye. A piece of very rough fabric caught in a cleft of the stone.

"Burlap? A ghillie suit."

Standing he looked to the dock through his binoculars again. This was the spot. He found a small pile scattered ashes. Not from a fire, cigarette ashes, no butts. Those had been collected. Looking around again told him he was dealing with a real pro. The cigarettes indicated a fallen pro maybe, but a pro nonetheless. He found a scuffed area where the sniper had rested his pack before leaving altogether.

He hated to admit it but he needed help. He needed a tracker. No, make that trackers. If the sniper was as good as he suspected he could throw off dogs. So he needed someone that didn't need scent as well. Two people came to mind. He could already feel the headache coming on.

Touching the communicator built into his cowl, "Watchtower, this is Batman."

"Watchtower, go ahead Batman."

"Patch me through to the Titans."

"Standby."

A bubbly effervescent voice came on the line. "Greetings, this is Starfire."

Batman sighed and turned down the volume to his earpeice, winced and said. "Starfire, this is Batman."

"AAAAAA, GREETINGS K'NORFKA OF NIGHTWING! It is glorious to be able to speak to you again!"

"Starfire, I need to talk to Nightwing."

"Certainly, Man of Bats. I will get him immediately." Once she was off the line, shaking his head, he reset the volume.

A moment later came the voice of Nightwing. This is Nightwing, go ahead Batman."

"Nightwing, I need...assistance."

"Gimme your coordinates! We'll be airborne in 5 minutes!"

Dick, I don't need the entire Titans Team."

"Bruce you're calling for help. That's bad."

"I didn't call for help, I called for assistance."

"Bruce, assistance is your euphemism for help. And if YOU call for help, it's bad!"

"Not this time. I just need Raven and..." sigh "Beastboy. Contact the Watchtower. Coordinate with them for transport here."

"Where are you?"

"Culver City. Looking into Light's murder."

"How's it going?"

"50 caliber round, 1200 meters away, right through the middle of Light's head. Almost nothing at the firing point. Not tracks, no spent brass, nothing. Just a tiny scrap of burlap. Probably from a ghillie suit. Whoever it is, they're a pro."

"Give me a few minutes to brief 'em and they'll be on the way."

"Don't bother briefing them, I'll do it here."

"You sure?"

The Batman sighed, "I"ll have to do it anyway."

"Bruce, cut him a little slack, he's just got a bad case of hero worship."

"I know, but he needs to grow up. He's nineteen, not twelve."

Batman heard the snickering, "OK Batman, they'll be there in a few minutes. Titans Tower out."

A few minutes later he heard a calm, dry feminine voice saying "...st boy, you need to calm down."

"Calm Down! How can you say that? This is THE Batman we're teaming up with. He's like the coolest superhero ever. He has no powers, but I bet he could still take down Superman."

From behind them the aforementioned Batman growled, "And you'd be right." Beastboy jumped straight up. "AAAAAAAGGGGGHHH" Even Raven was startled.

Batman continued as if nothing happened, "It wouldn't be pretty and it wouldn't be easy. But I could do it." The Dark Knight leaned until he was cowl to nose with the young changeling, "Just you remember that and settle down."

"Sir, yes Sir!"

"And quit watching so much Full Metal Jacket. Now let's get to work."

* * *

Twenty minutes later there was a green bloodhound snuffling about as Raven hovered cross-legged above the spot Batman indicated. The shapeshifter approached and flowed back to his human form. "I got a good lock on his scent, but it weird."

"Weird how?"

"It's a chemical scent. I think I know what he did."

"And?"

"Primetherine."

"Insect repellent?"

"Yeah, It's all over his clothes. Problem is it makes it hard to get a lock on him and not what he's wearing."

"The military uses it on their uniforms before they deploy. But you can follow it?"

"Until he takes them off, yeah."

The Bat growled, "Good, Don't lose it."

Beastboy gulped. "Yes Sir"

Batman looked at the other member of the Titans. "Raven?"

"This guy is almost as controlled as I am. Normally after something like this, there's a emotional psychic afterimage. Not here. It's like he was a factory worker putting a nut onto a stud over and over. It's like he wasn't even thinking about what he was doing."

Batman looked around in the afternoon light. From here he saw no less than 8 places they could be under observation from. And he wasn't an expert. There were more. And any one of them could contain their sniper.

He said, "I want to make sure you two understand me. Whoever this is, they are dangerous. Not even the Joker is a dangerous. At least the Joker would want the satisfaction of you knowing he was the one to kill you. Not the sniper. All he would care about is if you dropped. Be careful, if he decides you're a target, he's not going to give you a chance to get close enough to attack.

"I want you two to stick together. You are never alone." He saw the rising blush and protest in both of them. He growled, "You're both adults. Deal with it! Because the only unpowered villain I know that would be this dangerous would be Slade Wilson, Deathstroke, the Terminator." Beastboy gulped as both of the Titans paled, which was a neat trick for the empath considering how pale she already was.

"Raven, you said it was like he wasn't even paying attention to what he was doing. He was servicing the weapon. Nothing more, nothing less. So pay attention, to everything. If something seems wrong or out of place, say so.

"Beastboy, start tracking him, but don't get too far ahead. Raven, try to keep a lock on Beastboy, the instant he knows something, we need to know. Any questions?" Not seeing any he said, "Let's go."

* * *

Thirty minutes after they started following the trail, it split. One trail led to a local swimming hole/lovers lane. Dozens of cars and people had trooped through the area making the following of any scent impossible.

Batman figured it was where the sniper had started his approach to the hospital. Backtracking to the other, they followed as it led deeper into the country side.

After two hours and seven miles through the steep Appalachian terrain, Batman was getting nervous. This was too easy. He was about to call Beastboy back and rest for the night when there was a Bang/Poof.

The green bloodhound about 25 meters ahead started whimpering and whining in pain. The shapeshifter flowed back to Beastboy, who was rolling on the ground holding his nose. "I'm gonna murderize this guy."

Raven was there before the Bat, pulling Beastboy's hands away from his face, "Let me see! Keep your hands down."

"God it hurts!"

A growl announced the Bat "What happened?"

"Mace. He tossed coffee and pepper around to hide the trail and set a trap of Mace." His shoulders and ears drooped, "I tripped it."

Batman snarled, "You're lucky it wasn't a bomb. Raven?"

"Not much I can do for him right now. It's not like it's a cut, bruise or broken bone. Even if I treat the swelling and irritation it will just return until he clears out the Mace."

"Beastboy, breath in through your mouth and out your nose. That'll help clear it faster. Now was it Mace or was it CS?"

"What's the difference?"

"Mace is available over the counter. But CS is military grade tear gas. And so far, except for smoking at the firing point he's been a professional all the way."

"Never been around CS so I don't know.

Batman headed to the device and carefully examined it in place. Just a simple pressure canister that threw the chemical into the air. Carefully turning it over, he found a note inside a plastic bag. Using extreme caution he opened it and pulled out the note.

In block print letters it read:

Thanks for forcing me to clean up your mess, Justice League.  
Don't worry, I can clean up the others if needed.

Turning it over revealed a map. And the words "Eight miles, four hours walking."

Beastboy snorted saying, "Eight miles in four hours. What is he, like eighty-three?"

Raven bopped him on the back of the head saying "Look around you, moron."

"Raven, either one of us could do eight miles in, what, 15 minutes, easy?

Batman's gravelly voice replied for her "But I can't, not on foot, even if we were in Gotham. In this terrain four hours sounds about right."

Beastboy ducked at the rebuke. "Sorry, Batman."

"You should always keep the abilities of your teammates in mind, both limitation and skills. And in this case..." Batman watched the young changeling.

Beastboy knew it was a test. He scratched his head and said, "Well, I guess me or Raven could carry you. You can't possibly weigh more than Cyborg does."

"So, you do have a brain. Use it."

"Yes Sir."

"Now I want the two of you as rested as possible. So we're going to split the difference. Raven, you'll carry me first, halfway there, you pass me to Beastboy. We land about 500 meters out from the target. We reconnoiter from there. Now let's go."

* * *

Batman scanned the inside to the large cave. So far they hadn't found much besides the sealed container right inside the opening. It hadn't been locked and contained exactly what the packing list on the lid said:

Blankets, wool, green, US Army surplus 8 ea  
Meal Ready-to-Eat 2 cases/12 24 ea  
Mess Kits 4 ea  
Fire Starter, Magnesium 1 ea

There was a note at the bottom telling whomever to change the list as the supplies were used. With water from the stream the flowed by outside and the large pile of fire wood just inside the cave, there were enough supplies to keep 4 people alive for nearly a week.

But unfortunately for Batman's peace of mind, other than a simple transmitter that gave off a single pulse, there no bombs, no traps, no hidden recording devices. The pulse was probably just to let the owner know that someone had disturbed the cache. It was enough to make him want to pull the ears off his cowl. This sniper was one of the strangest villains he'd even come across. If that's what he was. He continued his examination of the cave hearing Beastboy and Raven as they applied their different skills to the task.

It was out side where Raven hit paydirt. Since they had entered the cave, night had fallen. In the dark night she saw something that sent a shiver up her spine. "Batman! Over there!"

'Over there' was a depression or sinkhole and it was glowing. To the Batman, it was a familiar sickly green. The color of green Kryptonite. He was on the communicator instantly. "Watchtower, Batman."

"This is Watchtower, go ahead Batman."

"Code ONE, pass word to Clark and Kara to stay the Hell away from here. We've found evidence of Kryptonite."

"How much?"

Don't know yet. But I intend to find out.

* * *

The depression turned out to be an impact crater. A small one to be sure, but a crater nonetheless. An old one if the trees growing around were any clue. The glow apparently came from the dust of the bolide that was nowhere to be found. Very carefully, with Ravens help Batman gathered up all the dust remaining in the crater and bagged and tagged it for disposal back on the Watchtower. As soon as the deadly to Kryptonians material was sent up  
Superman came down.

The first words out of the mouth of the Man of Steel was, "Thank you, Batman."

"You would done the same for me. Besides, it was Raven that found and collected most of it."

"Well, then I guess I should be thanking you then, Raven."

When he turned his cobalt blue eyes to her and smiled, she blushed and stuttered, "Iiiiit's not a problem, Superman."

There was a very low rumbling growl, almost a subharmonic.

The Kryptonian asked, "Beastboy, are you OK?"

The changeling said, "I'm fine, dude. Did you know I can become a Kryptonian cold virus?" He had a look in his eyes and on his face Raven had only seen once before on the happy-go-lucky jokester. It was primal and feral. And the rumbling still hadn't stopped.

Very carefully Superman put his arm around the changeling, looked at Batman and Raven and said, "Excuse us."

Drawing the shapeshifter to the side, he leaned close enough so that only Beastboy could hear and said, "Beastboy, was that a threat?"

"rrrrrrrrrNorrrr."

"Then I'll have to remember that the next time Zod and Ursa show up. I am a very happily married man. She's all yours, IF you can earn it. Now relax, because what your doing is just going to upset her. And even I wouldn't want to have to deal with an upset, female half-demon, daughter of Trigon the Terrible. My everyday human wife is bad enough."

Back with the Dark pair, Raven asked, mostly to herself, "What is wrong with that idiot?"

Batman slowly turned his head to look at the girl beside him. "You know, I've always heard that you were supposed to be the most intelligent member of the Titans. But it seems to me, in this case you're **over**-thinking it. Maybe you should turn your brain off and use your instincts.

"What?"

"Just do it." He called to the returning pair. "Superman?" Batman tossed his head and stalked off. Superman followed. "We're going to bivouac here tonight. Are you staying or going?"

"I'll be back in the morning. Something I have to take care of tonight."

Batman smirked, "Tell Lois I said, Hi."

The Kryptonian had to get his own dig in, "Sure. Does Diana know your out here in the back woods of...where we anyway?"

"Culver City."

"We were here just a couple of months ago."

"Yes, Arthur Light was trying to steal the laser Wayne Industries donated to the hospital. Someone dropped him from 1200 meters with single .50 cal BMG round, right through the middle of his head. And I'm beginning to think I know who."

* * *

Two months ago

An hour later, during the reception, Clark Kent and his wife were talking to the sponsor, Bruce Wayne.

Lois smiled and said, "Guys, this has got to be one of the strangest receptions I've ever been to."

He replied, "It definitely has a 'downhome' flavor to it."

"Reminds me of some of the dances we had when I was a teenager back in Smallville."

The middle of the feeders supply coop warehouse had been cleared. Every stack of palletized sacks of fertilizer, seed and chemicals had been double or triple stacked either against the wall or outside under tarps. There was streamers and decorations hanging from the ceiling. The employees had spent the last three days with brooms and shop vacs pulling up dust. In one corner was a stage with a pretty good local band and dance floor. In the opposite corner was the buffet. The community had turned out in force, wearing their best. It wasn't Savile Row or Armani, but that was beside the point.

Bruce saw a man approaching him. His detective instincts instantly summed him up. Mid 40's, Average height 5'9" 5'10", slight built 160 to 170 lbs, shaven bald. Bruce could see the male pattern baldness and this man had evidently decided, 'If it's going, then to Hell with it, get rid of it.' He had laugh lines at the corners of some of the coldest ice blue eyes the alter ego of the Batman had ever seen.

The man held out his hand saying "Mr. Wayne, I'm sure you've heard it repeatedly, but I wanna thank you. What you've done here has the potential to save a lot of lives." The warmth of the man's carriage and demeanor belied the coldness in his eyes.

Bruce took the hand, saying, "Thank you. I just wish it could have been sooner, Mister..." The grip was firm without trying be overpowering.

"Clemens, Mark Clemens. I'm a teacher at Culver Jr/Sr High. Ms. Trent was one of my students."

"What subject?"

He smirked, "Any of them." Seeing the confusion, he added. "I normally teach shop and Auto Tech classes. But I also fill in/substitute. I can't teach college level English or Physics, but I can muddle through the high school level. It's usually History, basic math or Social Studies. I also teach firearms safety and operations classes at the local range."

Her reporter instincts twigging, Lois held out her hand and asked, "Mr. Clemens, I'm a reporter for the Daily Planet. Could I get an interview?"

Taking hand, he said, "Certainly, Ms..." The detective noticed that Clemens shook hers the same way. Firm without trying to overpower the other. Not daintily, the way most men would shake hand with a female.

"Sorry, Lois Lane."

"Ms. Lane, that is a wonderful fragrance you're wearing. Distinct, yet subtle."

Lois with a slight blush, said. "My husband picked it up on a trip."

"Well, I guess that means dinner later this evening is out."

"Yes." She said, "My husband, Clark Kent.

The teacher offered his hand to Clark, looking up at him saying, "You're a lucky man. Your wife is a very attractive woman."

This teacher had the instincts of the detective pinging, It was those cold eyes, completely at odds with his actions. And he didn't seem to be concerned or afraid about the fact that Clark towered over him and outweighed him by at least 75 to 100 lbs. And this teacher had just complemented his wife. In front of him.

"Kent? You're also a reporter. I've read some of your bylines. You do good work, although I don't normally agree with some of the opinions." Seeing the surprise he said, "This country was built on dissenting opinions. One of the founding principals was a Voltaire misquote, 'Although I may disagree with what you have to say, I shall defend to the **death**, your right to say it.' It's actually a joining of a couple of his ideas into a single phrase."

He paused, "Sorry, lecturing is an occupational hazard."

Clark said, "You seem to do it very well.

"If a teacher doesn't get and keep the interest of the student, then he's not doing his job. For example, seventy-five percent of the students in one of my classes, Basic Auto Maintenance... are female."

The three out-of-towners were surprised. Lois asked, "Mr. Clemens, how did you manage that?"

"Ms. Lane, can you change a tire?"

"I live in Metropolis. I don't even own a car."

"Ms. Lane, if your car broke down, and you had a flat tire on a deserted back road, could you fix it? Or would you have to wait for some random man to come driving by?"

Lois had no answer.

"If women want to be treated equally, then they should have the same responsibilities. By placing the question as 'Do you want to be dependent or **in**dependent? Do you want to be able to take care of yourself or do you want to be forced to have someone take care of you?' I strike at their pride as young women. I've heard more than one of my female students say 'I'm not gonna rely on a man for anything if I don't have to.'

"And my Basic Auto class is just that. Basic! How to change a tire, how to change a blub or headlight, check or change the oil and transmission fluid, does my car need shocks or struts, how to assemble a basic tool kit for the trunk in case you have to replace a belt, do I need a battery or is the problem the alternator. Hell, one of the hardest and most important things I try to teach 'em is to READ the damn owners manual."

Lois had pulled out her notebook, "Mr. Clemens, when can we have the interview?"

"Now's as good a time as any."

"Great! I might even get you to show me how to change a tire while we're at it."

He grinned, "Ms. Lane, I think that might be one of the things that would fall under your husbands purview."

She looked at her husband, "Clark?"

"When we get home, Lois."


	2. Chapter 2

Morning found the three of them finishing a meal of MRE's. All three of them had used their own methods and examined the supplies. Batman scanned them with a couple of his gadgets, Raven looked over them psychically and Beastboy changed to a silkworm moth looking for any airborne danger scent.

The supplies seemed safe enough. Batman concluded that this was a simply a backwoodsmans cache. Something to have on hand in case the weather turned bad while out hunting. And the advent of tiny, cheap, reliable electronics just meant that whoever it belonged to could have a way to know if the cache was disturbed. He still didn't like the fact the signal was sent though. Someone knew they were there.

Raven was meditating after a night of restless sleep and trying to both figure out what Batman had meant and what in Trigon's Hell was wrong with Beastboy. The only time he'd acted like that was when he'd been doused in the chemicals that released the 'Beast'. He had looked like he was about to try and maul the Man of Steel, and he wasn't planning on losing.

And not even just before the incident with Adonis and the Beast had he looked that ready to rip into someone. What Raven couldn't understand was what set him off. She kept going over it in her mind and it still didn't make sense.

Batman and Beastboy were in the process of cleaning up the trash, mostly by burning it since nearly every piece of MRE refuse is designed to be burned anyway. Beastboy was using a stick to shove the remains of the small fire together before burying it when he heard the whistling he had come to associate with a flying Kryptonian. He'd learned that when Batman said he wanted to know about anything happening, the Dark Knight meant exactly that. Anything!

"Batman, Superman's coming."

"Are you sure it's him."

"Well, no. But since he's the only one from Krypton that knows we're here, I figure it's him."

"Not a bad guess, but you assumed. Never assume anything, it could get you killed." Then they heard, in a very fast succession a meaty thump, a thweetkrack, a grunt and a distant loud boom.

"SUPERMAN!"

The Man of Steel called into the cave, "I'm OK, but stay back. Someone is taking potshots out here."

"Beastboy, get out there and find him."

"I'm on it." A tiny green humming bird flitted past Superman and hovered just in front of him. It darted to and fro as if asking a question.

"Sorry Beastboy, I didn't see where he shot from. Over there somewhere." Superman pointed to a ridge-line that ran from 400 to 2200 meters away. The hummingbird flitted into the trees and disappeared. An instant later a green falcon jetted from the trees and started looking for thermal to soar on and gain altitude.

Hovering behind the Man of Steel, a pair of lavender eyes worriedly followed the climbing bird of prey. Cobalt blue looked down to lavender and an authoritative voice said, "I thought I told you to wait inside?"

"Sorry."

"Wait inside until your boyfriend gives us the all clear."

"He's not my boyfriend!"

"With the way you two act, you could've fooled me. Inside."

Raven blushed and floated inside, muttering to herself about stupid changelings and idiot Kryptonians. Superman smiled and shook his head. A flash of light caught his eye. It was the bullet that hit him, dead center, middle of his back, level with his heart.

Picking up the remains of the round he entered and asked, "Batman, what do you make of this?"

The jacket had deformed into a flower shape, but where normal lead would make up the center, it had been replaced by a crystal.

"What is that crystal, diamond?" If someone was taking a shot a Superman, maybe they thought diamond would work when armor-piercing failed.

Superman smashed some of it to a dust and felt the result. "It's quartz."

"Quartz? This doesn't make any sense. That would be useless as a normal armor-piercing round, let alone against you."

Raven interrupted them, "Batman, that Kryptonite we found last night. Wasn't it Kryptonian quartz?"

Batman held up the remains of the bullet. "Somebody is making anti-Superman rounds."

Raven's head snapped to the side, "Beastboy?"

Batman growled, "Is he alright?"

"He's stung, but he's not hurt. He's hiding."

"Superman, you be very careful. If this guy does have Kryptonite rounds, you'll be a primary target. You're carrying me. Raven, I want you to be ready to shield at all times. Let's go!"

Five minutes later they landed near where Raven sensed the changeling. Batman growled, "Beastboy, get over here." A second later a green mongoose climbed Ravens cape to her shoulder, looking first at Batman then Superman chittering wildly the whole time.

Barely shifting her head, she glared at him through slitted eyes and with gritted teeth she said, "You have to have a human voice if you want them to understand you. Change back."

Beastboy jumped morphing in midair. Before he could even open his mouth Batman asked "What's on your chest?" Right in the center of his chest just to the left of center-line was a bright blue splotch.

"He got me again dammit. First last night with a Mace bomb and now he got me with a paintball! I'll muderize him, I tell ya!"

"Did you hear anything?"

"No. I thought I saw something so I landed to check it out. Then something felt like a bee sting and I looked down to wonder when I started bleeding blue. He's ruined this uniform."

Raven cut him off, "Beastboy, shut up! You know you're lucky to be alive, right? Quit worrying about the uniform. Nightwing will buy you more. Ouch!" Now there was a blue stain in the middle of her chest as well.

"RAVEN!"

"SCATTER! Find cover!"

When they had taken cover, Beastboy called out to his teammate. "RAVEN, are you OK?"

"I'm fine. It was just another paint round" The girl had her hands surrounded by a black nimbus.

Batman growled, "Where the hell is he? Superman?"

"I didn't see him. He was behind me when he fired. Even I have to have a sound to localize. And if he's far enough away and can put enough material in front of himself, my X ray vision is useless."

"Beastboy?"

"Sorry, Batman. I wasn't paying attention."

"I'll discuss **that** with Nightwing later." Beastboy grimaced at the extra training, pain and exercises Wing would put him through. Batman's next comment had him sputtering though. "But because you two were arguing, your girlfriend just killed."

"She's/I'm not my/his girlfriend."

"The way you two argue, you may as well be **married**." Still watching for a sign of the sniper, he smirked and said, "Just ask Superman."

"Well if they were married, then they could at least enjoy some of the perks." The Kryptonian paused, grinning, "Make up sex is usually really good!"

Raven wouldn't have thought her cheeks could get any hotter. Her emotions were in a total uproar and it was only through iron control that she wasn't destroying the glade and everything in it.

Beastboy wasn't much better, but for different reasons. Tagging him was one thing, but shooting Raven was something else entirely. His primal side was screaming for vengeance! Through gritted teeth and narrowed eyes, he traced the landscape. His nose twitched to catch any scent, ears flicked listening for the slightest sound. Millions of years of predator instincts alert.

He noticed the breeze at his back. He said, "He's in front of me, somewhere."

Superman asked "Are you sure?"

A feminine drawl said, "Superman, if Beastboy says he's there, he's there."

Batman asked, "How do you know, Beastboy?"

"Because he's not upwind of us. If he was, I'd catch his scent."

Batman thought about it for a second, "Alright, we split up, try to out flank him." He glared at the Man of Steel, "I know it's not the way you normally operate, but stay on the ground, stick to cover. If he has Kryptonite rounds, he could take you out too. Raven, you're tracking with Superman. Be ready to use your shield." He looked at the green changeling, "Beastboy, you're with me. You do exactly what I say, when I say it, understood?

"Now, he's still toying with us, using paint and practice rounds, But that could change. So be careful. Everybody watch each others backs.

"Beastboy, you said he's in front of you. Where? Don't point, it'll could give it away. Tell us."

He kept turning his head as he spoke. "Up on that ridge-line...Just off my nose...now! Up there somewhere."

"Then let's get this guy."

They paired off and headed in different directions.

* * *

Through the long cleft he has just fired through, ice blue eyes narrowed as they noted which way each pair went. From their movements, he could even guess their plan. Hell, it's what he would have done in their place. Split up and try to out flank the target. Problem for them was they hadn't trained for it. Not even the Batman.

To give them their props, in an urban environment he wouldn't have wanted to try taking down the four of them together. But out here, the most dangerous one of the group was the shapeshifter, Beastboy. And the most experienced members of the group, Batman and Superman, probably wouldn't think of the idea of just turning him loose.

That was an option that worried him. It would have been Hunter vs Hunter. Millions of years of the instincts of a primal predator vs the instincts, know how and all the training that could be pounded into a man by the Army Rangers and the Sniper School.

He had expected at least the Batman and maybe another Leaguer. Lantern or one of the others. Superman was a bit of a surprise. But it was the addition of the changeling and the empath that made this an entirely different matter though. Dealing with meta-humans could be a cast iron bitch sometimes. But working against them made for really good training. You couldn't slack off for a second. He'd made a mistake taking out Light. He shouldn't have been smoking, but trying to get back into the 'Zone' after so long wasn't easy.

Sanctioning Arthur Light had been ridiculously easy though. A straight shot with a slight drop and the wind almost directly behind him. He hadn't even needed the ghillie suit he'd brought just in case. And it was one of the shots that he would never regret. Ever!

He oh so slowly eased back until he was completely out of sight of his quarry with enough rock between him and them that even X ray vision couldn't spot him. Caching the Barrett, he took only the fully silenced M4 assault rifle he had used against the changeling and his... 'girlfriend'? Looked that way to him anyway. You only argued that much with someone you loved.

As far as this group was concerned though, he'd tagged the three hardest ones already. He moved to a point were he could lock onto Superman and the girl. Yep, sure enough, they had no idea how to use the cover available to them. If he had been them, first thing he would have done would have been to get rid of that bright red cape. The girls dark blue cloak was better. Not much, but better.

It never failed. One of the surest things about meta-humans was their overconfidence when it came to normal humans. It was completely unconscious and strangely enough it seemed it had to be learned. But it was an Achilles Heel every one of them seemed to have. But with hard training, careful planning and a willingness to think both on your feet and outside of the box, there wasn't a meta-human in the world that was actually untouchable.

He didn't have a problem with the superheros, they actually did a lot of really good work. The problem was they never really finished the job. The Justice League, The JSA, The Titans, Birds-of-Prey. Boy-scouts every one of them.

It was the villains that got him torqued. If the Joker ever came to Culver City, it would have been for one reason only, Chaos! Death after Destruction after Terror. And as far as he was concerned, if the Joker did ever come to Culver City, he wasn't going to leave in a straitjacket in the back of a paddy-wagon. He would be delivered back to Gotham in a body-bag.

He settled his booney hat after taking a swig of water from his canteen and started tracing a path that would take him away from Superman and the girl, and headed to intercept the other pair. The one with his last target. He figured he could be in position in about an hour. Time to finish the exercise.

* * *

About an hour and a half after starting out, Superman called a halt to give the younger girl a breather. Trying to move stealthy in this terrain was exhausting for her. Even if she could levitate over a lot of the terrian. They halted in a small clearing that offered no distant sight lines for the sniper to use still gave them at least 30-50 meters to the surrounding area to watch the approaches. And if he got that close both of the meta-humans had absolutely no worries about being able to take him.

Raven pulled a canteen from her belt and sipped at it. The Man of Steel could tell that she had something on her mind besides the task at hand. He smirked, thinking he knew what it was.

"What's on your mind, Raven? Cause it's not this guy we're trying to find."

Sigh, "Beastboy! What is that moron thinking? He is the most confusing, aggravating idiot in the world." Superman smiled at that. Lois had said the same thing about him a time or two.

"Last night I thought he was having flashbacks to an incident a couple years ago. He just started snapping at everybody for no reason. He nearly went berserk. I thought he was really going to jump you, and for absolutely no reason. And he acts like he wants to aggravate me more then anybody else in the world!"

He smiled and said, "Pigtails in the inkwell."

"Excuse me?"

"A boy dipping a girls pigtails into the inkwell or trying to give her a frog."

"What's that have to do with Beast...boy!" Her eyes grew til it looked like they were the only thing inside her hood. "NO, there's no way! You're wrong! You have to be!"

"Why? As Batman would say, it fits the evidence."

"BBBBBBBecause I'm the quiet, stoic, ugly, dark, goth girl with no figure that guys don't notice. They notice girls like Starfire or your cousin, Supergirl."

"Raven, if you ever tell anyone else about this, I swear, I'll deny it. I was born a Kryptonian, but I was raised and live as a human. Therefore I have mostly a human standard of beauty. I am a man with eyes. I am a happily married man and I will never stray from my wife. But, just because I don't act on it, doesn't mean that I don't notice an attractive woman when I see one."

He gently pushed her hood back off of her head. "You are an attractive young woman. And I would be shocked if there weren't any young men that haven't noticed. And I can almost guarantee you that one of those young men is named Garfield Logan. I'd be willing to bet though, that he is either terrified about being rejected or he just doesn't have any idea how to go about getting your attention the right way. So he acts in a way that will get your attention without the risk of his being outright heartbroken. He may not even know he's doing it."

"BBBBut this is BBBBeastboy we're talking about! He's 19 going on 7."

"And both of the theories still fit. He's either terrified or he has no idea. Can he be immature? Yes. But that can apply to almost any man at one time or another." He smiled, "Me included.

"On the other hand, from what I've seen, he wears his heart on his sleeve. He is loyal, kind-hearted and he can be very brave." Superman had a full on grin, including teeth, "It takes a lot if guts to land on the chest of the Batman in the middle of the night and start giving orders, fully expecting that they'll be followed."

"That's just cause he's an idiot." The words were only half-hearted.

"Now wait a minute. He may not be the most intelligent young man in the world, but he is in no way stupid. And if you were to be honest about it, you could admit it.

"And I'll tell you something else I've noticed. You seem to get the most upset with him when he does something that either can or will get him hurt. The last time I saw something like that was when my wife got upset with me when she was there and I was stopping a bank robbery and they shot at me. Didn't matter to her that I'm bulletproof. She was still upset.

"When Beastboy left that cave under Batman's orders, you were wearing the same look in you face that my wife gets on hers, every time I answer the call. That tells me, that even if you won't admit it, even to yourself, you care more about Garfield Logan than as just a teammate."

Unnoticed by either of them at first, she had started to lose control of her powers. Earlier in the conversation, she started to slip and grab the rocks around them. Now her powers were slipping badly. Trees was being crushed at ground level, rocks were floating and either being smashed finer and finer or melting.

Superman grabbed her by the shoulders, shouting, "Raven, you have to calm down, relax, let it go."

Her glowing eyes snapped up to the Man of Steel. She had heard that before. From the young man they had just been discussing. He had said the same thing with a cheesy grin just two weeks ago. "Just let it go."

* * *

Raven was about to scream in frustration. The rest of the Titans weren't much better off. Except for Beastboy of course. Grrrrr, nothing seemed to get to him. She took a breath seeking calm. That wasn't true. Terra's death had hit him hard. And if Terra's had hit hard, then Coleen's had nearly crushed him. She heard Nightwing talking.

He was rubbing at his temples trying to relieve the building headache. "You been trying everything to get full control of your powers for a month. And every time you seem to get close it slips and goes out of control. Raven I'm sorry but I don't know what else try."

"I've got an idea."

Through gritted teeth, Raven said, "I don't need to try video games or whatever other idea you have bouncing around in that empty skull of yours Beastboy."

Nightwing said, "Does anybody have any ideas?"

"I've got an idea!" Raven growled at the green teen.

"I'm out, Wing." Cyborg had his head laying across the back of the couch.

"Forgive me, Friend Raven, but I have failed you."

"I've got..."

"BEASTBOY, SHUT UP!"

Nightwing was holding his head in his hand and said, "Raven, hold on. OK Beastboy, what is it? And it better not be stupid."

"It already is."

"Raven! Go ahead Beastboy."

"Just let it go. Punch through."

Nightwing looked confused, "Huh?"

Cyborg raised his head to stare at the green young man, "What?"

"..." Starfire was speechless.

"I told you it was stupid."

"No, really! Look, it's like this. In 1947 they were trying to have a plane that would go faster then the speed of sound in level flight."

Grrrrr, "What does that have to do with anything?"

Nightwing sighed and held up a hand, "Hold on. Let's hear him out."

"Anyway, they kept getting closer and closer and the plane would lose control and start to fly apart. But there was a guy who thought to himself, 'To Hell with it, I'm gonna break the speed of sound if it kills me. So he goes up and they drop him from like ten miles high. He hits the first 2 rockets and as he get close, sure enough, he's losing control and the plane seems like it's gonna fly apart."

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR "And again, what does that have to do with anything?!"

As Beastboy had been speaking, Nightwing had quickly been becoming more and more attentive, "Raven, be quiet! I think I see where he's going with this, and he might be right." The other Titans looked at their leader like he had grown a second head.

"He says 'To Hell with it!' He hits the third rocket and punches through the sound barrier. Suddenly, everything smooths out and he's got control again. They were trying to eaaaaaassssseeee through the trans-sonic barrier and it just wasn't gonna work."

Nightwing said something none of the Titans ever thought they were going to hear. "Beastboy, you're a genius."

"Dude, really?"

"No, not really. But everybody should hear that at least once in their life. And this time you deserve it."

Half an hour later, Raven was sitting in her room, arms crossed, the very picture of defensive behavior. Nightwing was pacing in front of her.

"Raven, all I'm saying is maybe you should give it a shot."

"It doesn't change the fact it's dangerous and it's stupid."

"Raven, I'll admit that mucking around with your powers can be dangerous. But do you really think it's just stupid, or is it because it was Beastboy's idea?"

She opened her mouth to reply and Nightwing cut her off. "Stop, I don't want a knee-jerk reaction. Is it because you think it's dumb, or is it because it was Beastboy's idea? I want you to honestly think about this for a couple of days." He turned to exit her room, but he paused at the door. "Raven, something else to think about. If an idea's stupid and it works, then it's not stupid."

* * *

She looked at the Man of Steel with white eldritch power filling her eyes. "Let go of me, NOW!"

He did as she said and took a step back. Raven looked up and launched herself straight up into the sky and out of sight.

He followed her until she was even out of his sight and muttered, "Now what?" He pulled the communicator from his belt to check in with Batman. It was the Bats party after all.

* * *

It had taken a lot of very careful maneuvering but he'd finally gotten into position. The hardest part had been staying downwind of the changeling. He wasn't sure how sensitive the boys nose was, but he hadn't survived multiple tours in Somilia, Iraq and Afghanistan by taking needless chances.

He was just below the military crest of the ridge and fluffed himself under the ghillie suit. Barely moving one limb at a time, he was easing over the top to bring the valley where he expected the target to show up into view. A long straight shot, about 600 meters away, just inside the treeline, he spotted a moving flash of black, purple and green.

Idiot. Military wear camouflage for a reason.

At least the Batman's all black made it harder to spot him. But the lack of anything to break up the shape of his head and the stark black on yellow bat symbol on his chest made the nearly shapeless cloak useless. He could just make out the Batman inside the treeline. Not enough for a clear shot, but enough to mark his position if he moved out of there.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when there came a thundering, crashing sound. The sounds of trees splintering and crashing to the ground. He locked back onto the target. He'd take any distraction he could get.

* * *

When Raven started losing control, both Batman and Beastboy crouched in combat stances.

Batman growled, "What the Hell is that?"

It took a moment for Beastboy to identify the noise, "I think Raven's losing it."

"But why?"

Batman was just about to call the other pair when Superman called. Batman didn't take the news very well.

"Superman, get out of there. Now."

"I can meet up you at your location, you're only about four miles away. I can be there in a second."

"No, get out of the area."

"Now wait a minute, Batman."

"Listen, we have evidence that he either has the capability to make Kryptonite ammunition, or already has. That makes you Target No. 1. So have the Watchtower bring you up, fly straight up until you're out of range, go back to Metropolis, D.C., California, Hell go to Mars for all I care. But get out of here."

"And what about you and Beastboy?"

"We can take a less than lethal shot. There isn't one with you. Kryptonite in your bloodstream would be just like mercury in ours. Even a graze will kill you. It's nothing or death. Now get out of here."

"Fine, but you call me the second things are secure. I wanna meet this man that's making Kryptonite ammunition."

"You got it."

"I'll check in with Lois. See you in a few hours?"

"This'll be over one way or the other by then anyway."

"What do you mean?"

"I have an idea."

"It's stupidly dangerous, isn't it?"

"Probably."

"Bruce, be careful. I'd rather not have to explain to an enraged Amazonian princess named Diana of Themyscria, also know as Wonder Woman, that I let you get killed."

"If what I'm thinking is correct, I'll be fine. Batman out."

"Batman, what are we gonna do?"

"In a minute, you're going to do nothing but watch. But right now, Beastboy, I need you to think like a predator. If you were hunting, a man?! Where would you be, right now?!"

"Batman, I don't know ab..."

"Where would you be? You're watching your prey, right now. Waiting for him to come into the kill zone. Close enough to where you can get your claws on him. Where would you be? Where is he?"

"Batman, this really isn't..."

"Shut up! Do it! Where is he?"

The change in Beastboy was startling. He crouched until one hand was on the ground, the other flexing. Like a big cat, flexing his claws.

"Beastboy?"

His nostril's flared, "He's downwind." Eyes traced the terrain, "He's up, high. He's above us." He looked up the ridge-line, "There, up there. The winds in his face and the suns at his back. That's where I'd be."

"Is he there now?"

"Probably, somewhere."

"Wait here."

"Batman, what are you gonna do?"

"End this. This is a game. And something tells me that it won't be over until either we leave or he's done what he set out to do."

"And what's that?"

"Simple, 'Kill' all of us. He's already gotten Superman, Raven and you, twice. That just leaves me. And unless we want to bring half the League down here and tear this entire mountainside apart or find ourselves another sniper, I don't think we're going to catch him.

"If this were Gotham, I'd have him by now. If this was Jump, you and the rest of the Titans would have run him down. In Metropolis, Superman would long since have tied a lamppost around him.

"But out here, he hits and fades, never giving us a chance to close with him. And I think the only way to get this over with, is to let him have his target. Wait here."

And with that, Batman boldly stepped into the open. He looked up to the ridge trying to spot the sniper.

Splat, splat, splat.

"Damn!" He didn't even see the muzzle flash when he felt the trio of rounds impact the front of his armor.

He rejoined Beastboy in the shade. The changeling asked, "You OK?"

"I'm fine."

"OK, now what?"

"Now we wait."

"For what?"

"A sign. This guy's cocky, but he's not overconfident. I bet that in a little while, somethings going to grab our attention and it'll lead us right to him."

* * *

He didn't know why Batman had walked into the open like that, but he never wasted an opportunity when one presented itself. Using his thumb, he flicked his selector switch to burst, entered the 'Zone', took a breath and released half of it and gently squeezed the trigger.

The only sounds besides the puffing of the shots was the mechanical tinkling of the bolt cycling the rounds. Unless you were Superman, 15 meters away you wouldn't have heard it. At 598 meters, neither Batman or Beastboy had a chance of hearing it.

He spotted the rounds impacting on the front of the Batman's armored chest and grinned to himself. So that's what it was. Batman hadn't even flinched when they struck. He'd been expecting them. He wanted the exercise over with.

An inch at a time, he eased back over the crest of the ridge-line. Once he was out of sight, he opened his pack and pulled out a package. He set the smoke and flare assembly and placed the invitation in plain sight, set the timer for two hours and headed home. It would take him about an hour and a half to get there and he had company coming.

* * *

It was the fact that Superman's observation had sank into her brain that was causing her powers to go haywire. The idea that not only did Beastboy have feelings of a romantic nature towards her, but that she apparently, on some level at least, reciprocated them.

Her emotions were in turmoil. Happy, Affection, Brave and Crass were nearly out of control. Knowledge and Wisdom weren't much better off. Serenity was almost bouncing and giggling like a schoolgirl. Only Rage was absent and even she was strangely subdued.

It couldn't possibly be true, but it fit too neatly.

Nightwing, Cyborg or even Starfire would do something aggravating, and she would grumble, shake her head and roll her eyes. Beastboy would do something similar and suddenly she was in an argument with him.

The other three would do something nice, and she could easily say thank you. But when the changeling did the same thing, more than once she'd been glad for the cover of her hooded cloak.

If unchecked, her emotion based powers could conceivably destroy the planet. She had her emotions barely leashed right now, but they were in an absolute uproar. And it was getting worse by the second. If she didn't get away from the planet before she could release them there was no telling what the damage could be.

But just letting go and giving in? It couldn't possibly be that easy. And it was too dangerous.

Unfortunately, that was exactly what she was going to have to try, it was too much for meditation or regaining control. Once she cleared the atmosphere. She angled toward Solar North, roughly in the direction of Vega and pushed her flight powers to the limit. Three and a half AU from Earth, when she couldn't wait any longer, she finally gave up control and allowed herself, for the first time since she was barely a toddler, to just...

Feel.

* * *

They had been waiting nearly two hous when Beastboy's communicator buzzed on his belt. Opening the device he heard the dry voice of Raven, "Set a signal so I can track it. I'm going to come straight down, fast, so the sniper doesn't have a chance to get off a shot."

"Batman thinks it's clear, but you be careful anyway, you hear me, Raven."

She smiled, "Yes, Beastboy, I hear you. I'll be there in a few minutes." Maybe Superman was right, maybe it was 'Pigtails in the inkwell.' Because Beastboy certainly sounded more than a little concerned about her coming into a possible shooting gallery that even Mr. Paranoia AKA the Batman thought was clear.

Maybe it was time she started training the young man in the proper way to show affection besides offering her a frog. Or in this case, trying to get her to play video games All The Time.

* * *

When Raven landed, the difference in her appearance was startling. Three anf a half hours ago, when they split up, she was wearing a dark blue leotard and cloak. Now they were both, the purest white.

Before Beastboy had a chance to remark on it, Batman growled her, "What happened?"

She smiled when she heard the same rumbling growl from the changeling she had heard last night. The smile was a tiny one, but it was there. 'So that's what it's all about.'

Batman was concerned though. The boy had been edgy since the four of them had split up. Now that he really thought about it, Beastboy had been even worse ever since being goaded into placing the snipers location. He'd spent that last couple of hours prowling around the spot were they had been waiting.

He noticed Beastboy settled a bit, relaxing when Raven, in her normal dry tone said, "It's OK." Whatever it was that had him on edge had something to do with Raven.

After settling Beastboy, Raven looked up at the Dark Knight, "And to answer your question, I stopped thinking, and started using my instincts. But when I did, I had to get out of the area unless I wanted to destroy most of the surrounding countryside."

"How far out?"

She smirked, "Over three A.U."

"That bad? And if you hadn't left?"

"There'd be a new ocean," She pointed to the ground, "Right here."

Still looking at the young woman, Batman growled, "Beastboy, a small bird, aerial recon, make it happen."

"What?"

"Do it. It's about time for our sign and I want it spotted as soon as it happens. When you see it, get back down here. Move!"

Grumble, Grumble, Grumble, a morph later and a green peregrine falcon stood where Beastboy was a second ago. With a powerful drive of it's wings, it took to the air.

"What have you learned?"

"That I'm willing to admit a lot more than I was last night."

"Like what?"

"I'm willing to admit it to myself, that doesn't mean I'm going to admit it to anybody else." When Batman glared at her for a long moment, she held up her fist, surrounded by an obsidian nimbus and said, "Don't push it, Batman."

"Fine."

Looking up at the green bird, she asked, "Has he been behaving himself?"

"I'm actually a little impressed. Other than being a little on edge, your boyfriend's done pretty good work today."

"Sometimes, he just needs focus."

He was surprised, "You didn't deny it."

She never looked at him, just smirked, "Deny what?"

"Does he know yet?"

"When I'm ready for him to know, he'll know."

A whistling sound and a double boom was heard. They looked to see a flare explode in midair and orange smoke rising above the ridge-line.

High above sounded the shrieking cry of a Bird-of-Prey that had found a target. They looked up in time to see the green falcon pull in it's wings and drop into a full speed dive. Over 200 miles an hour, almost straight down, screaming the entire time.

"Raven, can you stop him? It could be a trap."

Her eyes started glowing white while she watched the falcon. She waved her arm and disks of darkest obsidian appeared both directly below the plummeting Beastboy and in front of them. He fell into the first and flew straight up out of the second, screaming a cry of avian frustration.

"Beastboy, get down here, NOW!"

The changeling had maintained the same velocity that he built before he'd abruptly been teleported and he used it to good advantage darting back towards the smoking signal on the ridge. He juked and jinked to keep Raven from being able to interfere again.

"Get me up there! Now!" Raven's soul-self enveloped the two of them and vanished.

* * *

Once he had revealed his identity to her, one thing Clark Kent never did was lie to his wife. And for once he thought that might be a mistake. When she found out that someone in the hills of Appalachia could have something specifically designed to kill him, and he was going back as soon as Batman called, she wasn't amused. They'd been arguing about it for nearly two hours.

"Clark Kent, you're out of your mind!"

"Lois, I have to go back. And Bruce won't call until he's sure it's clear."

"Dammit, Clark. Why? And how will he know it's clear?"

He pulled her resisting form into a hug, "I don't know. But I trust Bruce with my life. Lois, I would trust him with yours."

She pounded his harder than granite chest, "Damn you. Damn you and your, your, your nobility. It's gonna get you killed one day, and then where will I be?"

He simply held her until his communicator buzzed. He answered it, kissed her long and hard and was out the window. She hollered at his shrinking form, knowing he would hear her, "At least I'm not married to a cop." Walking into the kitchen, she muttered, "Or fireman, I don't think I could take it if he was."


	3. Chapter 3

Ravens soul self deposited the two of them on the ridge about 100 meters from the signal. They looked back to see the green peregrine falcon approaching fast. Batman pulled something from his belt and threw it at the changeling. Beastboy darted to the side, but it exploded into a net that neatly captured him. As he fell, Beastboy deliberately tumbled, wrapping the net tighter. Just before he impacted the ground, he morphed into an 800 kilo full grown Kodiak Grizzly Bear, ripping the net to pieces. Once free, he took the shape of a timber-wolf and loped to the signal.

Raven stopped Batman as he moved to intercept the shape-shifter, "I've got him."

She grabbed him with her powers and pulled him to her. He struggled and snarled until he realized who had him. Once he stopped struggling she looked into his lupine eyes and said, "You need to calm down. It could be a trap. Are you going to run if I let you go?" He hung his head and whined a bit.

As soon as she let go and he resumed human shape, Batman was in his face growling, "What in the Hells wrong with you?"

RRRRRRRR. Beastboy's rumbling growl gave the Dark Knight pause.

"Batman." He looked at Raven, she shook her head and addressed her teammate. "Garfield, what's wrong?"

"I tried to tell him that me thinking as a predator is a bad idea." Raven's eyes widened a bit. "When I saw that signal I thought I had the guy."

"Are you in control?"

"...Mostly."

"I want you to very carefully scout around. See what you can find out. Carefully! And stay away from the signal for now. OK?" He nodded, became a bloodhound and ambled off.

Raven looked at Batman and said, "You made a mistake. Beastboy doesn't like to think like a predator because he can too easily become one. Permanently. He may often assume the form, but he tries to avoid the mindset.

"You'll never acknowledge the mistake, but you need to keep it in mind when dealing with Beastboy. Because I don't know if you know this, but he has a form that has taken down Nightwing, Cyborg and Starfire. At the same time. It's amoral, feral and totally primal! And that form would probably give even you problems. Major problems."

She walked off, circling towards the signal.

"Damn!"

* * *

Beastboy ranged around the area, nose to the ground. He found a scent trail matching the one from before. It was a single one, indicating that either the guy teleported either to or from the spot or he left the same way he came. Tracing along for a while, it finally split about a kilometer away. It stayed off the ridge-lines and out of the bottom of the ravines and valley floors, sticking to the sides of the hills on rocky ground.

One of the trails lead roughly off towards where the superheros had been several hours ago. The other traced a path towards the distant town. About a mile from the firing point, it suddenly angled down slope. Beastboy was confused because this guy had avoided the ravine bottoms like the plague unless he had no choice. At the bottom of the ravine the trail entered a fair sized stream.

Beastboy chuckled inwardly, "He thinks he's gonna lose me like this." It took him twenty minutes to figure out what the guy had done. The sniper had used his familiarity of the terrain and floated downstream until he until he'd exited God knows where!

He'd lost him. His frustration caused him to shift into the Beast long enough to tear apart several nearby trees. Regaining control of himself, he shifted to a wolf and started back to Raven and Batman at a ground eating lope that he could have kept up for days if he needed.

* * *

They had spent the time Beastboy was gone carefully approaching the device looking for any sign of tripwires, pressure switches or lasers. There didn't really seem to be any way to booby-trap the the signal marker.

It was set in the open onto bare rock. It appeared to be an absurdly simple pop-flare and smoke grenade assembly. Batman thought it wouldn't have taken ten minutes to assemble once you had the design and materials.

Hearing the tearing and crashing in the distance, both looked towards it. Batman asked, "Is he OK?"

Cocking her head and stretching her hand in the direction, she smirked and said, "He's not happy, at all. But he's on his way back."

"I've read Dick's reports. He's supposed to be good."

"He is good, very good at what he does. I told you earlier, sometimes, he just needs focus. In the proper form, he has senses that rival or exceed any of the machines in that vaulted Batcave of yours. A gas chromatograph isn't as good as his nose when he uses it properly. And the only times he's ever failed us, NOBODY could have changed the outcome."

Returning to their approach, he suspected that there wasn't any traps because the sniper wanted it found. Because placed off the the side in plain sight was another note inside a plastic bag.

After reading it, Batman started cussing a blue streak. He was still cussing when Beastboy loped up to them.

Beastboy nudged Raven and pointed to the furious Dark Knight. She shrugged.

Batman said, "I don't believe this. We've been invited to dinner."

Beastboy started chuckling, "That's funny, Batman. What's it really say?"

He growled, "Do I look like I'm joking?"

"You mean he gave us his address and everything?"

"No, but he did give us some clues. Read it." He passed the note to Raven. As Beastboy looked over her shoulder, she read it out loud.

"Thanks for the training op, but you guys suck. You pogues need to take a run down to Camp Rudder at Eglin AFB and join up with the 6th RTB for a while. Maybe go to Benning and the try the 2nd of the 29th and the USASS. Because except for the green one and maybe Superman, you amateurs probably couldn't deliberately find water at the bottom of a flooded valley.

"If ya figure out who I am, come on by for dinner. Call first and don't bother breaking down the door, because it's going to be open anyway. But if you do try to come in like Gangbusters, then I'm going to defend my life, liberty and property with every means at my disposal!

"See ya Later!" :)

"Duuuuuuude, he even put a smiley face. Batman, when you said this guys cocky you weren't kidding!"

He growled, "I didn't know how right I was." He touched the switch to his communicator, "Watchtower, Batman. Contact Superman, have him meet us there and standby to bring up me, Raven and Beastboy."

Raven asked, "Batman?"

"I need information. I can't get it down here. I need access to the Tower's computers."

* * *

"What have you got, Bruce?"

"Read this." Batman handed him the note.

Superman finished with raised eyebrows. "He doesn't lack for confidence, does he?"

Batman growled as he pounded away on the computer.

Superman asked, "I can tell these are Military units, but which ones?"

"Camp Rudder, Eglin Air Force Base. Home of the 6th Ranger Training Battalion. Third phase of Ranger training. Swamp phase. The other is 2nd Battalion, 29th Infantry Regiment. They run the U.S. Army Sniper School."

"Well, you thought he was a pro."

Batman posted an image on the huge screen. The man was in his late thirty's to early forty's, bald with ice blue eyes. He was wearing Army Class A Greens with the three Chevrons and three Rockers of a Master Sergeant.

"That's that teacher."

"Clemens, Mark. Master Sergeant. After graduating from Culver City Jr/Sr High School, he enlisted in 1985 with mothers permission at age 17. At 19 as an E4, after two years of perfect scores on the range he was sent the attend the second class of the newly formed Sniper School in '87. As a Sergeant he was sent to Ranger School in 1988. He spent the next 19 years in the Rangers, either in ForceCom or in Training and Doctrine Command.

"Was a part of 'Operation Just Cause' in '89 and 'Desert Storm' in '91. Promoted to Staff Sergeant in '92. He had to be pulled out of 'Operation Gothic Serpent' in '93 because he broke his ankle during a training exercise in late-September."

"Gothic Serpent? I don't remember that one."

"Yes, you do." Superman looked down at his teammate waiting for a response.

Batman kept looking at the screen and said, "The Battle of Mogadishu. Black Hawk Down. They pumped him full of pain killers and stuck him on a plane back to Fort Benning. He was injured a week and a half before it went down."

"Whoa! I've met a lot of those guys. They are a **really** tight bunch. And he missed it? I bet he was upset about that."

"You could say that. It's about the only flag in his file. He tried to sneak out of the hospital and hop a supply flight heading back to Somalia. On crutches! It took four MPs to drag him back and it was only on the direct orders of the Regimental Commander that he stayed in the hospital.

"Later, during recovery, he re-qualified as a Sniper. It was part of a bet. He had called the Head Instructor of the Sniper School a 'Pansy Ass Pogue' that quote 'Couldn't find his ass in broad daylight using both hands, a map, compass and a GPS.' The loser had to transfer to a non-combat arms unit."

Superman chuckled, "I gather he won?"

"Aced the course. While wearing a cast. He'd painted it with camouflage. He got within 150 meters of the target and still hadn't been spotted. To win he only had to get within 300.

"Deployed on the aborted mission to Haiti in '94. In '96, assigned to TRADOC as an Ranger Instructor, Camp Darby, Fort Benning. TRADOC hung on to him for another two years as a Drill Sergeant. Gained a reputation for never having a recruit fail Weapons Qualification. First time 'Go' every time.

"A bit of a scandal about that. Someone accused him of shooting for the trainees to improve their scores, but the recruits all passed again with scores as good or better without him being there. That settled any rumors of wrongdoing on his part. In '98 he was promoted to Sergeant First Class.

"1999 he's back at Forces Command with the 75th Rangers again. In 2000, he was a part of Regimental Reconnaissance Detachment Team no. 2 and sent to Kosovo. Oct 2001, he's in Afganistan, he took part in 'Operation Rhino', helping to seize a Taliban airfield outside of Kandahar.

"March 2003, Iraq, Bravo Co. 3rd Battalion/75th Rangers received the tasking of seizing 'Objective Lynx', the Haditha High Dam in Northern Iraq. He was a member of one of the two sniper teams detailed to Bravo Co. Bravo Co. had also received a platoon from Charlie Co plus a few of the Battalion Staff. Just over 150 men. The orders were to take the dam and hold until releived.

"They faced four companies of Armor and a Brigade of enemy Troops. Fourty-four T55 tanks and BMP1's and over 6000 Iraqi Soldiers. There was also fourteen 155 mm howitzers in direct support of the Iraqi defenses as well as dozens of anti-aircraft batteries in the area making Close Air Support problematical.

"But they did it. They held out for eight days. Bravo Co. 3rd/75th Rangers were awarded the Valorous Unit Award, along with five Purple Hearts, four Silver and 26 Bronze Stars, and 71 Army Commendation Medals. The Company Commander credited the Sniper teams for repeatedly preventing the position from being overrun and forcing either a retreat or surrender.

"Clemens was promoted to E8, Master Sergeant shortly after that. In 04, he was sent to Camp Rudder as a Senior Instructor. Rejoined the 75th Ranger Regiment, deployed to Afghanistan from June 2005 to July 2006. Retired 2007 after 22 years of Service.

"Honors and Awards. Soldiers Medal, the highest ranking non-combat award a Soldier can earn. He pulled three other Soldiers from the burning wreckage of a Blackhawk at the risk of his own life. 2 Bronze Stars with V for Valor Device, Purple Heart two Oak Leaf Clusters, various other bits of 'Fruit Salad'.

"During his enlistments, he completed a double Bachelors in Education and History, specializing on American History and the Constitution. On an essay from when he was applying for a position at the Culver City Jr/Sr High, he wrote. 'It's a teachers job to teach a student facts, figures and formulas, names, dates, places and deeds. It's NOT their job to teach the student WHAT to think, but to teach them HOW to think in the first place.'

"His father died in a mining accident when he was 15. A few years later, some of the fathers patents for improving some of the mining equipment paid off, setting the family up fairly well. Before that though, borderline poverty had Clemens hunting to put meat on the table. He's been tromping through those mountains since about the time he could walk. Knows the terrain like he knows his own hand.

"And there is no doubt in my mind that he's our sniper."

"And you're not calling ahead so he can cook dinner...why?"

"Because I can't prove it. Yet!"

* * *

Batman was talking to his protege, "How are things there?"

"Quiet. The only villain activity was a tech heist by Mammoth and Gizmo. Other than that, we responded to a couple of fires."

"Is Cyborg there?"

"Just a sec."

A moment later appeared the chrome and flesh visage of Cyborg. "What cha need, Batman?"

"Those holo rings of yours. How long are they good for?"

"Depends on what ya want em to do. A full body image would last a couple of hours, tops."

Nightwing broke in saying, "But they ran continuously when you were undercover at the HIVE Academy."

"That's cause it was drawing from me and not the internal power cell."

Batman offered, "Face and hands for sure. Say an hour or two for a full body image."

"14 to 16 hours. They'll recharge in about 3 to 4. That good enough?"

"That's fine. Nightwing, I need Raven and Beastboy for the foreseeable future. And a couple of Cyborg's holo rings."

"Can I ask why?"

"Undercover work. And because unlike the rest of you, they can pass as high schoolers. Those rings can only do so much. You and Victor both appear and sound over 18 and Kori is still naive about Terran customs. Same kind of problems with the rest of the Titans. Too old or too out of the ordinary. I wish I could send Rose Wilson, but she's needed where she is. That leaves Raven and Beastboy."

Nightwing asked, "Raven and Beastboy undercover, together?"

Cyborg said,"Oh, she's just gonna love that!"

* * *

"Hey, Mom, we're here!" The dark haired, young woman behind the blonde haired, green eyed young man gave a long suffering sigh. She felt naked without her usual cloak.

A tall raven haired woman with a perplexed face, looked up from the terminal she was working at. "Don't you think you're dropping a little too early into the role, Beastboy?"

"Aww, come on. This'll be a story to tell my kids about. And call me Garfield, 'Mom'!"

"What story?"

"DUDE! The one about how when their daddy was a young Titan and had to go undercover, fighting crime with not one, but TWO of the hottest superheros on the planet. Rachel 'Raven' Roth, defeater of Trigon the Terrible, that magic usen, butt-kickin' half-demon hottie of the Titans and Diana Prince, Wonder Woman of the Justice League no less, Princess Diana of Themyscira, as beautiful as Aphrodite herself!"

The blushing Diana leaned down to the red faced Raven and quietly asked, "Does he realize what he just said?"

"I don't think so. But, I am surprised he knows who Aphrodite was." For her part, Raven wasn't sure whether to blush or growl. He had just called her one of the hottest hero's on the planet and in the same sentence, admitted that he noticed Wonder Woman was, too.

In his excitement, Beastboy never noticed them talking and kept rambling. "And right there beside these Goddesses was Beastboy, Shape Shifter extraordinaire!" There was a fast series of animals, mostly predators. "Takin out the bad guys. Kickin' butt and taking names! Waaaaa, ya, ya, Hiya!" He had started doing some weird fake Kung Fu moves.

Wonder Woman mentioned to Raven, "He looks like Beavis!"

"Who?"

"Beavis and Butthead?"

"Oh."

Beastboy turned to face the two women and said, "If that isn't a great kids bedtime story, I don't know what is! This is gonna almost as great as teaming up with the Bat!"

The door had opened again, admitting the scowling Batman. Seeing the antics of the shape-shifter, he asked in a growling tone, "Do I need to trank you?!"

"Uhh, no."

"Then settle down."

"Sir, Yes Sir."

He passed folders to Beastboy and Raven, "The two of you read over these. They're the details to your covers and all the information on the suspect. You better pay attention to what's in there! You leave in two hours. Now GIT!"

Once they left Batman sat down at the terminal, pulled his cowl off and held his head in his hands. Seeing Batman rubbing at his temples, Wonder Woman asked, "You OK?"

"Fine. But I think I owe Dick an apology. My respect for his patience has risen exponentially."

Diana raised her delicate eyebrows in surprise. Seeing her expression, he said, "He's been with the Titans longer than he was my partner. He's put up with Beastboy all these years and hasn't strangled him?! When he was with me, by this time, he'd left Gotham and run away to Jump to help start the Titans. I must have been a menace."

"Garfield's not that bad. He's just a little... high strung."

"Nobodies that high strung. Tennis rackets aren't that tightly strung. I think he's that way on purpose!"

Seeing the reproachful smile, he sighed and said, "Fine, he's pretty good in the field. If I'd have listened to him, I think we might have caught our sniper. He wanted to stay in the air searching and I was worried about him being a target.

"The problems start when he's not actively on a mission. J'onn has already put most of the Watchtower on lockdown because of him."

He stared at her, "Are you going to be alright riding herd on those two? Especially him!"

"Shouldn't be a problem. Course, I can say that now. I'll let you know better after we're finished. You know you're gonna owe me for this, right?"

"I'll make it up to you." She just stared at him. "I promise." Her gaze never wavered. "Diana, if I have to get Clark to wear the suit for a couple of days so we can go somewhere quiet, I'll make it up to you, I promise."

"You know, I should hold out for the same number of days that we're undercover, but that's probably the best offer I'm going to get."

* * *

Beastboy and Raven had moved to a lounge to read over the files. Raven was surprised to see Beastboy carefully read and neatly set each page aside, all the while humming, whistling and doodling to himself. "Hmmm, hmm, hmmmmmm, Doodle, do, do, do, duh, doodle, do, do. Can't believe I gotta do this high school thing again."

"Again? You never did high school in the first place."

"No, but I did go through getting a GED."

Raven looked at him sidelong, "When?"

He never looked up from the files, "Think I was 12, no, 13."

"WHAT? How? And why?"

He grinned at her, "Add who and where and you'll have a case, Rae."

Grrrrrr.

"OK, OK, Take it easy. This was before Rita died and Mento's Mento helmet made him go mental. I had just started with the Doom Patrol and Rita really didn't like the idea of me running around with them on missions. Thought it was too dangerous. So she put her foot down and said that I wasn't gonna be allowed on missions until I at least had a high school education.

"Steve didn't wasn't happy about that, not that he ever really was, but Rita had him over a barrel." Beastboy grinned at the girl and waggled his eyebrows, "He wasn't gonna get any nookie until he caved. Anyway, I didn't wanna be out of the missions either, so I got Steve to tutor me until I could pass the GED test. Rita was pissed when she found out, but a deal was a deal, so I was back on the active list.

Raven narrowed her eyes and grumbled, "Did he help you on the test?"

"Define 'Help'. Did he help me learn the stuff on the tests, yes. That telepathy of his made it easy to learn the material. Only took about a week to get it all. But he didn't help me cheat, if that's what you're asking."

"So you're telling me you have a high school equivalency? Then how come you act so dumb all the time?"

"Rae, I'm ADHD, not stupid. Never have been. Both of my parents were basically geniuses. You think I didn't get at least some of their brains. I mean, come on! I hacked the Tower mainframe to get info on you before your 16th birthday. And that had both Cy and Dick making firewalls and security programs for it. You think that didn't take brainpower? I got brains, I just don't use 'em all the time. Besides that I'm lazy. It's a lot easier to just let you, Dick or Cy figger things out and I just go along for the ride."

"You know I'm telling Nightwing about this when we get back?"

Beastboy just stared at her until she asked, "What?"

"You really think he doesn't know? I ain't positive, but I can guess that about 20 minutes after all of us met up the first time, Dicky-boy dug into the Bats files on you, me, and Cy."

Raven considered that, "You're right. That does sound like something he would do."

"Probably wasn't a lot in there about you and of course, nothing on Star. But I had a known history with Doom Patrol. And Vic's accident was pretty well documented. So Bird-boy knows all about my education." She was a bit surprised by his correct use of the word 'documented'

"And I'll tell ya something else." She started to blush when he placed his nose bare inches from hers and very quietly, almost in a whisper, said, "Because of the way I normally act, **everybody**, except maybe Nightwing and Cyborg, underestimates me. That includes you and Star, all the villains, Slade, the Brain and Mallah, even Trigon."

He sat back in his seat looking at the next page in the file, "You weren't there, but I hurt that bastard Trigon worse than everybody except you. Cyborg, Star and Dick, they were all pinpricks, but I was a full blown, major, inner ear infection. Even the good guys don't bother thinking about me. Except for maybe Batman, they all underestimate me. I once told him that I could infiltrate the Watchtower and that nobody, **nobody** could stop me."

She had a very skeptical look on her face.

Beastboy shrugged and said, "All humans have a bunch of symbiotic bacteria living on and inside of them. The skin alone has about 10 to the twelfth power, that's a trillion, microorganisms of about 1000 different species, from 19 phyla living on it. That's not even counting the small intestine or the colon. Most are beneficial to the host and without them you could die.

"So any biofilters the Bat or the Manhunter could set up would have to allow them through. Just become a microbe and hitch a ride. Even Jericho would have a harder time than me. The way I see it, everybody underestimating me, not taking the goofy shape shifter seriously, well that's nothing but a tactical and strategic advantage for me."

Raven stared at him with total shock.

"Hey cool, Wonder Woman's gonna be your mom and my Foster mom. That's great."

Raven was too stunned by the revelation she had just undergone to ask him why.

* * *

"Diana Prince." She was shaking the hand of the school principle, a short stout woman with iron gray hair pulled into a neat tight bun. "Wayne Industries contracted me to help with counseling after the tragedy earlier this week."

"We're glad to have the help, Ms. Prince. The killings last week have us all a little rattled. The school lost two teachers and one of our students when Light attacked. And on top of that everybody knew most of the victims personally one way or another. We've seen on the news and read about that sort of thing in the bigger cities, but we never expected it to happen here. At least that bastard, Light, didn't get away."

"You're not bothered by the way he was taken down?"

"Bothered, Hell no! Got exactly what he deserved, you ask me. I've arranged for you to use one of the offices down the hall. I understand you have two kids that are going to start with us as well."

"My daughter and foster son. There's no telling how long I might have to be here, so we talked about it and they came with me rather than staying behind in Gotham. I contacted the administration desk and enrolled them before we left. They're waiting in the lobby now." Wonder Woman didn't bother to mention the fact that Bruce and J'onn Jonzz had hacked the school servers to select the classes after the secretary had input the students information.

The principal stood and came from around her desk. She motioned to the door, saying, "We'll get them their Student ID's and I'll have one of the student aides show them around. Fifth period starts in about twenty minutes. We'll have them join then rather than interrupting a class in progress."

They left the office and the principal got the schedules from the secretary, looked at them and said, "Damn, we have to change this."

"What's wrong?" She didn't let it show, but Batman had set the schedules to have maximum coverage on the suspect. And a change would screw that up.

The principal pointed to one of the pages, "Here," than to a different place on the other, "and here. Those were the teachers that were killed. The system still has them listed. We haven't had a chance to take them out yet." She looked over the schedules carefully.

"Both of them are taking the same subjects, just at different times. We'll just use this one and they can share classes."

Her face didn't show it, but Diana had started swearing in Ancient Greek.

* * *

"I'm April."

"Rachel, he's Garfield."

"Call me Gar!"

She was a slim girl, dark hair and frosted tips. "Follow me. Down that hall is the caf. There's four numbers to every room. The first number is the floor, second is the wing and last two are the room itself. Three floors, three wings, all numbers start, right here, at the central stairwell. If you have a 4 in the first place, that's one of the outbuildings, the gym, Auto Tech or the Vocational Studies.

"Here, let me see you sched."

Raven passed the sheet. Reading it April said, "Aww, you guys lucked out!"

Beastboy asked, "How's that?"

"You got Clemens for three classes!"

It was supposed to have been two classes, each, at separate times. Raven looked at the list and drawled, "That's not what's on the schedule."

"We had to shuffle things around after..." she trailed off.

"Sorry."

"You didn't know."

Beastboy interrupted, "But Clemens is good?"

"And how. Clemens is the best! He really knows how to teach. Makes it exciting, makes you want to learn. His Basic Auto Class was great. I don't have to call my boyfriend to check my car anymore. I've had one car since I was sixteen, but I've had three boyfriends. Boys can come and go, but you keep a car for a lot longer!

"Looks like we have his Advanced Auto class together in sixth period." She grinned at the pair. "We're starting a new project this week. He hasn't told us what it is yet, but it's gonna be great"

Her face saddened, "You had Mrs. Werner for fifth period American History. Clemens took it over after the other day." The bell rang and the hallway filled with students.

"Come on, I'll show you the way."

A few moments later, she knocked on a classroom door. "ENTER!"

"Mr. Clemens, I have a couple new students for you."

The man held out his hand for the schedule, saying, "Thank you Ms. Duvall. That'll be all."

He read the list, held out his hand and said, "And you are?"

Taking the offered hand, "Rachel Roth."

Shake, "Garfield Logan, call me Gar."

"No Mister Logan, I will not." He didn't raise his voice, but somehow he pitched it to carry to the last desk. "Let's set the rules. Mr. Thompson?"

"Proper forms of address only. Surname with the appropriate prefix at all times. Mister or Ms."

"Next! Mr. Harris."

"The teacher is Sir or Mr. Clemens, only. If you wish to recognized raise your hand."

"Next! Ms. Walker?"

"The seven phrases of courtesy, Yes ma'am, No ma'am, Yes Sir, No Sir, Please, May I and Thank you. At all times."

"Next! Ms. Tucker?"

"If you wish to treated as an adult, you will act as an adult. What you do outside this classroom has no bearing. But in here, the rules are not optional, they're mandatory."

"Thank you all." He looked back at the two new students. "Are there any questions?"

Ravens stoic voice asked, "Books?" Clemens didn't answer, just **stared**. "Sir."

"I'll contact the front desk and have them ready for you at the end of the day.

"The two of you arrived together. You know each other?"

"Her mom's my foster mom, Sir."

"I see. For right now, you won't need your books. We're just getting ready to discuss the assignment. Out of curiosity, either of you watch old movies, specifically one from the early '70's called 'The Cowboys'?"

Raven shook her head. Garfield said, "Aww, that's a classic!"

"Yes, Mr. Logan, it is. And it's the basis of this classes discussion today. Do you remember it well enough to brief Ms. Roth?"

"Yes Sir."

"Then, during the discussion, quietly keep her informed." He looked at the room and found an empty seat. He called to a boy beside it and said, "Mr. Harris, would you please find another seat." The boy grabbed his stuff and shifted to another open seat. Clemens pointed to now vacant pair of desks. "You two. There."

"Alright, let's begin.

* * *

They talked about what happened in the movie. Mr. Anderson losing all his ranch hands to 'Gold Fever', having to train a bunch of raw school boys ranging in age from 16 down to less than 8 in how to rope, wrangle, handle and drive 1800 head of cattle over four hundred miles to market.

"Mr. Anderson offered those boys forty Dollars. They would face hardship, rough rivers, foul weather, discomfort beyond anything you people know about. All for Forty Dollars. Don't sound like a lot of money does it?"

There was a chorus of 'No Sir's. "But consider this." He whistled a fast tune. "Who knows the words to that?" A few hands went up. "Ms. Walker?"

"Shave and a haircut, two bits."

"Two bits. That's fifty cents. To get a shave and a haircut. Last time any of you young men went to the barber, you paid 12, 15 dollars?" He grinned, "You likely didn't need the shave." Grumble Grumble Grumble. "But that'll add at least five dollars to the bill. Do the math. Back then, you lost two bits, you may as well have lost a twenty dollar bill today."

They talked about the trials the boys face on the trail. The death on a boy after he was trampled by the herd. This all went fast and only took about 15 minutes. Then they reached the climax of the movie.

"What happened then? Mr. Logan?"

"The bad guy shot Mr. Anderson when he refused to be afraid."

"When the boys rushed to help him, what did Mr. Anderson say? Ms. Tucker?'

"He told them to stay back."

"Why? Mr. Harris?"

"A man stands on his own two feet."

"Then? Ms. Walker?

"They shot him again and again."

"What did Mr. Dern's character say after that? Mr. Thompson?"

"Take everything but the fire."

"Now that, ladies and gentlemen, that was important. At that time and place, stealing a man's horse was a hanging offense. Why? Ms. Roth?"

"I don't agree with hanging, or capital punishment."

"That's beside the point, Ms. Roth. The fact is, at that time and place, whether you agree with it or not, if you left a man afoot, you were liable to be hung. The question is why. Any idea?"

"No Sir."

"OK, anybody else." Hands went up, "Mr Logan?"

"Because if you stole a mans horse, he could die."

"Exactly." He looked at the clock, "We need to speed this up. Back to the movie. Those boys waited until Mr. Nightlinger arrived the next morning with the wagon. After burying Mr. Anderson, they... accosted Mr. Nightlinger, tied him up and broke open the crate to get the weapons. Why? Ms. Harper?"

"The oldest said they hired on to do a job, to see that the herd was taken to Belle Fouch."

"So they armed themselves and went to take the herd back from the thieves that stole it. Were they right in doing so?" Not seeing her hand, he asked, "Ms. Roth? You opinion?"

"No Sir."

"Why? Please, justify your opinion."

"They should have gone to the authorities."

"OK, I can see that. But consider, the closest law enforcement was probably at Belle Fouch. 75, maybe a 100 miles away. For one man on a fast horse, that could be three days, maybe longer. Three days to get there, one or two to assemble a posse, four or five days back.

That's a week and a half. In that time the rustlers could drive the herd a 120, 130 miles, maybe even to Mexico. What would happen then? Ms. Tucker?"

"The rustlers would get away."

"And all their trials, the loss of one of their friends, their time, effort, sweat and blood as well as Mr. Andersons death, would have been... for nothing.

"So they acted. Mr. Nightlinger agreed to help. They calmly, cold-bloodedly, proceeded to take down the rustlers one by one. And make no mistake, each one was killed. Until they were able to lead the rest of the rustlers into an ambush. And having set up a few myself, that one was rather neat and tidy. Very well done.

"In the end, those boys killed every one of the rustlers and drove the herd on into Belle Fouch. They took the Law into their own hands. They saw a series of crimes and they acted to bring the criminals to justice.

"In today's terms, those crimes would be assault and battery, terroristic threatening, multiple counts of attempted murder, one for each of the boys left afoot, Grand Theft, today amounting to hundreds of thousands, maybe a couple of million of dollars. And one count of First Degree Murder. Coldblooded and completely premeditated. Mr. Dern's character walked into that camp knowing he was going to be murdering at least one man, probably more.

"And I say more for a very good reason. In the end, every one of them, they weren't **boys** anymore. They were men, even the eight year old. They had, every one of them, accepted an adults responsibilities and carried them out.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm not gonna ask you what you would have done had you been there. It's a completely different time and none of you have had to face the things those young men did."

He paused and looked at each of the students. "But it is something to consider, if something like what happened last week happens again. Mr. Whitman?

A very quiet, sad voice in the back answered, "Yes Sir?"

"You have my sincerest condolences for your loss. While it is gratifying to see you present, I have refrained from calling upon you today. However, I will be doing so in the future. And if you need any assistance, you merely need ask."

His eyes filled as he rasped, "Thank you, Sir."

The bell rang and Clemens said, "Pages 247 through 260 from your textbooks. Verbal quiz tomorrow. You're all Dismissed except for Mr. Logan and Ms. Roth. I will see you all tomorrow." They approached the desk and Clemens said, "I noticed the two of you are in my next class. I will meet you there. I'll have the office gather your texts for pickup at the end of school. Dismissed."

When they left the classroom, Raven muttered, "We've walked into a hornets nest!"


End file.
